Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-09-08
THE FARM.

Butter, in amounts of five pounds or
less, is regularly sent through the English
mails. Now it is proposed to send cream
from the country to supply the London
trade in tin-cylinders, tightly corked,
wired down and sealed; the tins not to be
returned. By this method it is proposed
to furnish cream at 6212c per quart,
which is about one-half less than is charg-
cd by London milkmen.
The Montana Wool Grower says: The
lambing season now over has been an ex
ira good one. The percentage of increase
has been quite large, although of course
the number of ewes to lamb was much
reduced by the great mortality Of last
winter. The percentage of dry ewes was
smaller than usual, and had the winter
been mild one, and had the ewes as a
body come through alive, the increase
would have been something remarkable.
Judging from what we have heard from
various sections, we should put the net
increase in sheep for this summer above
the number on the range last fall, at a
little less than ten per cent.
An Illinois dairyman, being dissatis-
fed with the average yield per cow In his
dairy, began testing each separately for
the amount of milk given, thus wedding
out the COWS which not only were not
paying for their keep but were costing
more than their produce came to. This
caused decided improvement but the
result was not entirely satisfactory. The
cows were then tested by setting the milk
skimming and churning separately from
a Oh. By this method the actual value of
y .ch cow was determined, the poor ones
kid and replaced by heifers from the
Best dairy breeds. The result was that
the butter yield was raised from 166 to
266 pounds per year per head.
An Australian gives in the st. Louis
Glebe-Democrat some news relating to
the cattle business in the southern land.
He says: ''Our cattle raising in the great
grass region is very extensive, yet it diff
ters somewhat from the way it is carried
on In the United States. We fence our
ranges or stations as they are called with
American barbed wire. Australians are
always on the lockout for new things in
America, and they speedily adopt them.
The proprietor of station is called a
squatter. He may have 10000 or 10000
acres in his station, but whatever he has
it is all fenced. Some of these ranches
are 200 miles from market, and it takes
many months to drive the cattle through.
The law prohibits cattle from being driv
en- faster than four miles day, or sheep
more than three. The recent great rains
have wonderfully increased the crops.
Wool has gone up Sc per cent"
Next to a good lot of logs the average
northwestern lumbermap apparently ad
mires most something in the line of fancy
stock. II. T. Brown, of Minneapolis, has
made his Browndale herd and his annual
stock sales famous. n. P. Clarke and
Chas. A Gilman, both lumbermen in ST.
Cloud, dabble in ShOrt-horns and Jerseys,
while Isaac Staples, over at Saltwater,
lets his admiration for fine stock express
itself largely IN thoroughbred horses.
His string of runners is generally fea-
ture at every meeting. Several of the
Eau Claire lumbermen have farms ada
cent with fine stock, while Thos. Irvine,
the secretary of the Mississippi Logging
company, takes greal deal of pride and
comfort in small herd OF Jerseys. The
Knapp, Stout & Co. company have whole
series of farms in the Red Cedar country,
and their farming operations are second
only in Importance to their numbering
and is carried on in the same thoroughly
systematic and comprehensive manner.
The severity of the drouth in many
SSCb1Ouo VI bhS l1IS year Has
called attention to the value OF our hay
crop, which by the way is very generally
underestimated. For the past four years
the average value of the hay crop of the
United States was $50 million dollars.
The acreage and yield during the same
period has varied remarkably little, the
average annual product having been AZ
million tons with the lowest yield 10
million and the highest, 49, million.
The acreage has kept closely in the
neighborkood of 3S million acres. This
is but little in excess of the average III
wheat, and yet the average value of the
wheat crop was only 351 million dollars,
the value of the hay crop per acre ex-
ceeding that of the wheat crop about 20
per cent, and the same by comparison
with corn. To arrive at the value of the
total grass crop of the United States it
would be necessary to include the value
of the pasture land, and if this were
done, the grass crop would be found to
be much more valuable than any other
single crop in the country.